A special tour was held today for CAEA members at The Huntington in San Marino, Ca. The tour was of a small selection of art education books and materials from the Diana Korzenik Collection. The items were beyond words however I will try to describe them for you as best as possible. The collection which was displayed in one of their conference rooms was donated to the library by Diana Korzenik in 1997. It is now part of their prints collection. Several thin art-teaching books and interesting materials were spread about the room. The curator C. Cherbosque eloquently described various items from the collection. Starting with some early art education books by L.S. Thompson Some Reasons Why Drawing Should be Taught and Walter Smith Drawing in Public Schools (You can read one of his other books here Art Education: Scholastic & Industrial which was written in 1873). There were also art school materials displayed (paint sets etc) and an example of Friedrich Froebel's "gifts". (I looked them up and found a few sets here Froebel Gifts and here!) Other items presented to us included books showing the various styles of art taught in schools from line drawing to paper weaving. Then there was the propaganda coloring and tracing books some of which required children to trace images of soldiers or other similar subject matter.
All that I have written doesn't even remotely describe what I have seen today. I wish I could share it with you unfortunately photography was not allowed in the private showing of the collection. The items were enough to leave me wanting to learn and see more. Hopefully these items are shared again with the public so I can make a longer trip out to study these in fuller detail.
Below are photographs I took as I wandered through the gardens at The Hungtington... breath-taking & relaxing ...however it was a HOT day! I hope to go back with hat & cool clothing! 
I visited a few of the galleries which housed the artwork of artists M. Cassatt, J.S. Sargent, E. Hopper and so many others. The galleries alone are worth a trip to The Huntington and if you are still not convinced on a trip out that way there was also a Tea Room. The Tea Room had a huge display of sweets ("sweet-bar") and that alone is a reason to head back!!
A time line of Art Education.
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4 comments:
Man girrr... you didn't tell me you were going out there. It sounds like a great exhibition! I checked out the Froebel gifts and those are EXPENSIVE! Ouch. I've yet to visit the Huntington gardens... always knew they were beautiful. AND... no pictures of the tea room!!! What were you thinking???
So glad that you visited the Huntington and that Curator Cathy Cherbosque provided you with a mini exhbit of my art education collection. I donated these objects for you and others to enjoy.
Above all I hope these zillion objects may inspire artists and art teachers to go beyond the inevitable limits of one life time . History suggests other options, even other curricula.
I hope you and others do make a return visit.
Diana Korzenik
Newton Highlands MA
That looks like a fun place to visit, I'm going to tell George to go with me.
Wow!
I wish I could have gone with you. Sounds like a you may have walked with some great inspiration for your teaching career. :)
Maybe next time, I'm in CA we can visit the Huntington with you. The girls and I do love our tea! Gotta run now, time to prep for elevenses. ;)
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